Smuggled Goods
by The Sketchywallflowr
Summary: Serenity has taken on a few passengers... A few more than they expected. “Hell,” Zoe moaned. “Does this mean every renegade who needs to run somewhere is gonna come looking for us?”
1. Chapter 1

Mason looked each crew member in the eye, one after the other. The room was deathly silent. He shuffled his feet and drew in a breath.

"I'm pregnant," he announced at last.

**

* * *

Two Months Earlier**

Serenity had stopped to pick up passengers. There were five altogether- a woman and her daughter, a teenage girl who was looking for work on the outer rim, a young man with a perfect smile and a former school teacher.

River was immediately taken with the mother and daughter combo. She watched them from the shadows with an intent, almost creepy look in her eye. Her unbalanced mind was rattling with memories of her own childhood and of people she'd never seen nor met before. The girl, Melanie, fascinated her. How simple life was for her! She would dance with ribbons tied to her wrists, she would giggle and run through the hallways and when she tripped, her mother would come running and kiss the tears away. River longed for the simplicities of childhood.

Mal was suspicious of the teenaged girl. She kept to herself and spent most of the time in her room. Her name was Cassidy, she was nineteen and had spent most of her life on her father's dirt ranch. She was striking out on her own to (hopefully) find a life more fulfilling than that. Mal didn't but that for a minute. Her face said she couldn't have been older than fifteen, and the way she spoke it was clear she didn't have a clue as to how to survive in the outside world. Her working papers and ID card seemed legitimate enough so the captain had let her board, but there was something about her that made him wary. Like she was hiding something.

Zoe and the schoolteacher, Carla, seemed only to have in common the same irritation of how ignorant and obnoxious Jayne was. That seemed to be enough to keep one another's company. Zoe could regale stories of the war and her time with Mal, where Carla delighted in reminiscing about the antics of the children she taught at her private school. In a way, Carla reminded Zoe of Shepherd Book. The older woman was a bit sheltered, but there was something about her that was far from innocent. Carla seemed a lot tougher than one might give her credit for.

Jayne had taken to Mason the moment at dinner he'd told Simon to stop acting to pompous. In truth Simon hadn't said anything really wrong. He was reassuring his sister that the visitors were not from the Alliance, and no one was going to be taking her anywhere. And even if they did try, the captain wouldn't let anyone because they were more important to Mal than the passengers. To which Mason had snorted and said "Would you shut up about how much you love the captain already?" Jayne had almost choked to death on his protein. River had glared hard and muttered "Secret man will be exposed soon enough." Simon had excused himself promptly.

Fifteen days later, Serenity was cruising as scheduled and was on her way for a stop on a middle of nowhere moon called either "Platoh" or "Plataton", nobody could remember which. Kaylee had just announced Serenity would need fuel (just like the people on board because the pantry had been nearly empty for days) when a blip came over the scanner. The ship was being hailed. Worse still, they were being hailed by an Alliance cruiser.

"Captain Reynolds," an officer said curtly when the firefly replied to the call, "prepare your ship for boarding."

"Boarding?" Mal said easily, shooing Kaylee and Simon off the bridge. "There a reason for this honor?"

The man, most likely some low-rank who didn't have much say in anything, smirked. "We believe one of the passengers you've picked up is smuggling illegal goods."

Internally, Mal cussed. "That so?" he replied pleasantly. "What sort of goods? If need be, I can perform a search of guest quarters."

"Classified goods, captain Reynolds. You wouldn't know what to look for. Stand by for boarding."

"Now, I don't-"

"Stand by, captain. I have authority to board with or without your cooperation." The last image Mal saw before the screen went dead was a conceited, full-of-himself grin from the Alliance officer.

This time, Mal cussed out loud. Very loud. And Zoe got to get the brunt of it. "Get everyone in the kitchen!" Mal barked. "NOW!"

Everyone gathered. Melanie and her mother, Chloe, sat huddled together at the end of the table. Mason sat beside them looking unperturbed by the situation. Carla held her steady look of determination that can only be achieved by a woman whose dealt with unruly children all her life. Cassidy was shaking like a small, frail leaf.

"Listen here," Mal began sternly. "We're going to have Alliance agents boarding very, very soon. They're looking for something of theirs that's gone missing." He paced back and forth, trying to find the right words for it. "If anyone here has put my ship or my crew in danger…" He took a breath top calm himself. It didn't work. Luckily for him (and everyone else), Jayne tromped in and broke the awful silence.

"They're boarding," he said softly.

"Is River in her room?"

"With the doc, yeah. Kaylee's with 'em."

"Okay." Mal calmed himself, then walked off to greet the intruding officers.

Sergeant Terk of the Alliance Forces was all smiles while boarding the renegade firefly ship. You could tell from looking at him he was thinking of doing a thorough inspection of the entire vessel to see if he could book the captain on any charges.

"All stored items are out here," Mal informed him wryly. "Guest quarters are-"

"I'm not looking for an item, Captain Reynolds," Terk said haughtily. "I need all the women you have on board."

"…. Come again?"

"Every female, including crew."

"What for?"

"We need them examined."

Mal lifted an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Captain Reynolds, there is a woman on this ship who is carrying a child that belongs to someone else."

Mal blinked. "You mean I have a pregnant woman on board?"

"Relatively. It is an artificial insemination, so whether or not you think a woman on your ship might be pregnant, she may be carrying what we need."

"I… see. And whose kid is this if not hers?"

"It belongs to a man who wants the fetus."

"It's his kid?"

"He owns it, yes. If you'll excuse me, please." Terk strode past Mal with his head high. Mal waved away the gun Jayne had started pulling from his shoulder holster. "Reynolds, get all your females ready for examination."

In half an hour, every woman from Serenity was waiting in an Alliance sickbay looking irritable. Zoe kept tapping her foot to keep from striking out. "This is insane," she fumed. "I don't see why they couldn't just take the passengers."

"I feel violated," Kaylee confessed. "But I feel worse for River." River was asleep on her shoulder. She was drugged for the exam because, naturally, she wouldn't let anyone related to the Alliance touch her in any way, shape or form.

"What's worse is poor Melanie," Carla commented. "She's only nine years old. Of course she hasn't been implanted with a stolen embryo. Can you imagine how uncomfortable she must feel? Her future intimate life with men will be scarred forever."

Chloe and Melanie came out of the room, the small girl looking pale and nervous. The Alliance doctor slammed the door behind them.

"That's everyone," Zoe declared to the guards who were stationed to watch them. "Can we go now?"

"This way," one of them responded, sounding annoyed.

The females returned to Serenity looking worse for the wear. Cassidy was positively shaking.

"You all right?" Simon asked her as she passed.

"I'm… I just… yes," she managed to spit out.

"We done?" Mal asked Terk impatiently.

Terk was obviously quite put-off. "Yes," he spat. "None of them are carrying the child." He turned on his heels and marched out, the few foot soldiers he brought with him following like puppies.

"Well," Mason declared into the silence, "that was annoying."

Three weeks passed with little to no activity. The stop was made as planned, and Chloe and Melanie got off on that planet. "Thank you for everything, Captain," Chloe had said, "but Melanie is scared to death by what happened. She just needs some time to settle again, you know?"

"Of course," he assured her. "I hope she's okay."

Serenity was airborne again. Carla and Zoe chatted when there was a moment, Jayne and Mason spent a lot of time playing with Jayne's weight sets, Cassidy locked herself away in her room. Life was as normal as it was going to be.

Until Mason started getting sick.

He seemed pale most of the time. His appetite was healthy, but he would throw up at least twice a day. But the kicker was that no matter how much Simon asked to take a look at him, Mason refused and ran off to his room. Mal created a sort of intervention in the kitchen one day.

"Look," Mal said plainly, "if you're going to infect my crew and passengers and possibly endanger our lives-"

"No, I'm not," promised Mason. "It's nothing contagious or anything."

"Then tell me what's going on."

**

* * *

Present Time**

"The hell?" Jayne snapped, which pretty well summed up everyone's thoughts on the matter.

"I'm pregnant," he repeated. "I'm carrying a child."

Mal looked at Zoe, who looked at Simon. Everyone looked at Simon, who shrugged. "I don't think I understand," Simon confessed. "How could you…"

"Are you aware of how people smuggle organs through human transport?"

"Yes," Simon replied, remembering all too well the head-on encounter they'd had with one of Mal and Zoe's war buddies.

"Embryos work the same way. Only instead of two hearts, I have a womb-like pocket in my abdomen that's holding a living child."

"But… that's medically impossible. How are you feeding it, how will it grow?"

"How will it come out?" That had been Kaylee.

"Surgery, I imagine. Same way it came in." Mason smile a little and placed his hand on his stomach. Under close scrutiny, there was a tiny bump there.

"So," Mal reasoned, "you're who those Alliance officers were looking for."

"They never thought to look for a man. Clever, huh?"

"Sure, I guess, real clever… except you put my entire crew in danger!"

"I knew they wouldn't find me-"

"But they searched my ship which I am not okay with!" Mal snapped. "They traumatized a nine year old girl. You think about that? What if instead of letting us go, they decided to find something to charge me on because, I don't know whether or not you've noticed, Firefly class ships ain't exactly in accordance with Alliance law!"

"I knew you wouldn't take that from them."

"Sometimes what you take ain't a choice!"

"Of course it is! Why do you think I chose Serenity, Malcolm?" Mason's voice was strong and fearless, which was impressive since the captain looked right close to hitting him.

"Why'd you choose Serenity?" the captain demanded.

"Because of them," Mason said, waving a hand and the Tams. "Because you didn't let them get caught no matter what. You're somewhat of a legend in the underworld of crime, Mal."

"_Captain Reynolds_," he said icily.

"Fine, captain. The point is I knew you wouldn't let the Alliance take you down. You're strong. I needed someplace strong."

"Hell," Zoe moaned. "Does this mean every renegade who needs to run somewhere is gonna come looking for us?"

"I told you passengers was a bad idea," Jayne added.

"Jayne," Mal started, "so help me, you say one more word…" He stomped away a few feet, then rounded back on Mason. "I want you off my ship."

"What? No, Mal, please-"

"That's final! I will not have you endangering my crew."

"I'm not! What danger are they in? You've already been searched for the baby, they won't want you anymore! And besides they didn't even think of looking for a man!"

"And if they do think of looking for one? What then?"

"Then…" Mason bit his lip, not sure of what then. He understood now what pregnant women went through. Being so fragile required a lot of care. It was damn near impossible to do it alone. But what was he going to do if the captain made him leave the ship? He really would be alone. At least here there was a doctor and people who understood the Alliance wasn't doing what was right for its people. Here he was certain no one would turn him in. Out there, out in the world, you couldn't trust anybody. It was such an overwhelming notion, Mason started to cry.

Mal was a bit stunned. Everyone was. "What… you… don't…" He stepped away. Mal hadn't ever been able to deal with crying women too well before, let alone crying men.

"I'm so sorry," Mason chuckled. "I don't mean to. It's just…" he stifled back a sob. "Being pregnant. God, I feel stupid even saying it." He wiped his eyes and tried to smile, but that just made everything sadder. "Damn," he whispered. "I hate these hormones."

"Are you taking estrogen?" Simon asked.

"Yeah. A lot of them. Apparently I have a lot of testosterone, even for a man. But now I'm all… weepy." He pounded a fist on the table.

Kaylee, ever the consoling shoulder, went over and quietly hugged him. "It's okay," she crooned. "We'll see you get set someplace safe."

"There is nowhere safe," Mason sniffed.

"So where were you headed?" Zoe asked quietly.

"Nowhere," he admitted. "I figured I had nine months to decide what to do, maybe make a close friend I could count on. Get some connections somewhere."

Kaylee looked at Mal with her patented puppy-adorable eyes. "Can't he at least stay a while? Until he find himself someplace?"

"No," Mal argued, though it wasn't as strong as he'd meant it to be.

"Come on, cap'n. You can't dump a pregnant man alone in the verse. It ain't right."

"I'll agree to that," Jayne mumbled. "Pregnant man ain't right."

"At least…" Simon got to his feet, trying to make eye contact with the captain. Mal was determined to keep his gaze to the floor. "Let me take a look at him, make sure he's healthy?"

"I don't care what you do with him," Mal said shortly.

"Come on," Kaylee said soothingly, guiding Mason down to the infirmary. "We'll check on your little one. Simon's got a good touch."

As she, Simon and Mason departed, Zoe sided up beside Mal. "Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" He knew damn well what. But he still didn't look up.

"What are you gonna do with him?"

"Dunno," he confessed.

"Babies think in music," River said suddenly. "It's beautiful."

"This is nuts," Jayne declared. "This whole ship is turnin' into one giant psycho factory." He threw his hands up. "When's it gonna end?"

"Sir?" Zoe pressed. "We can't just drop him off anywhere."

"Don't see why not."

"Yes you do. You wouldn't do it to a pregnant woman, would you?"

"No."

"Same thing."

Mal shrugged. "I don't know yet."


	2. Chapter 2

disclaimer: The 'verse and characters (most of 'em, anyway) created by Joss Whedon.

* * *

Simon poked Mason's stomach gently. "How far along are you?" he asked.

"About… three months or so. Maybe four."

"You don't remember?"

"Not quite. I've been running around a lot."

"Does it kick yet?" Kaylee wanted to know.

"No," Mason smiled. "But my lower back hurts."

"That'll get worse," Simon assured him. It was so strange to be examining someone who was pregnant but couldn't have a normal female exam. That, and Mason's belly hair made it all the more weird. "You seem healthy as far as I can tell. Of course, it's hard to tell how healthy you should be."

"Is it alive?"

"As far as I can tell, yes."

"Thank God for small favors, then." Mason stretched out on the infirmary bed. "So that's good at least."

"I'm still a bit confused as to the process of this," Simon admitted. "This is a medical miracle I'm witnessing and you're just taking it in stride."

"Let me be frank, Simon."

"I thought he was Mason." River poked her head into the doorway, her hair swooshing in after her.

"Huh?" Mason lifted himself onto his elbows.

"You're Mason."

"Yeah."

"Not Frank."

"_What_?"

"You told Simon to let you be Frank. You're Mason." Her pretty face looked puzzled. "I don't know any Franks," she admitted.

"No, I mean let me be curt, be honest, to the point. Let me say what's need saying without a lot of words."

"But you're using too many words right now."

Despite his apparent annoyance, Mason couldn't help but smile. "That's because you won't let me be Frank. I have to be Mason, and Mason tends to ramble. Frank is to the point."

"Then you are Frank?"

"Only if you let me already."

"Okay," she agreed. "But future changes will have to be scheduled."

"You got it, sissycakes." Having thoroughly dealt with the crazy for the moment, Mason could once again focus on being frank. Frank. Whatever. "The point is, Simon, that life comes at you too fast and hard to dwell on things like 'Against God's will' and 'Unnatural states of being'. I saw a problem, figured out the best way to fix it, and now I'm in a whole new predicament I gotta solve. Eventually I'll see the way out of this too, and then I'll have me another boat of trouble."

"Who is the mother?" River asked.

"River," Simon said gently, "I don't think that really matters."

"Of course it does. Young woman is with child everyone asks 'Who is the father?' It's only fair to ask Frank."

"I'm all set being Frank, Mason'll do just as well."

River made a face. "This was not scheduled."

Mason looked poignantly at Simon. "Is she messing with me or what?"

"It's hard to say," the doctor admitted.

"Okay then." He rested back down on the bed. "The mother is a young girl named Lidia. She's twelve."

"Twelve!" Kaylee gasped. "That's so young!"

Mason shrugged. "If you're old enough to bleed, you're old enough to breed." Kaylee made a disgusted face. "What I mean is," he continued, before making himself look like a complete freak, "twelve is old enough to be able to carry a child. At least, for most girls. Anyway, Lidia was a stable worker on a ranch I used to watch."

"Twelve years old," Kaylee marveled, "and working on a ranch? Did her parents own it?"

"No. She didn't have any parents. The ranch served sort of as an orphanage for the town. Real backwater, low class people there. Inbreeding was real high. I think the man who owned the ranch was Lidia's grandfather or great uncle or something. It's hard to keep track after a while."

"What happened to her parents?"

"Fire," River informed them matter-of-factly. Her eyes were glazed, as though she was looking into the flames that perished the couple. "They were locked in the cellar."

"Tornado first," Mason said quietly, seeming unfazed by River's astute observation. "Everyone hide in the cellar. Then the fire when the winds knocked over a lantern. We didn't find their bodies until three days later."

"Fire stole their faces," River murmured, her voice taking on the quality it had when she was about to be crazy and introverted. "Noting but bones and ashes and the rings on their fingers melted together."

"How do you know all this?' Mason marveled. "You can't know that much just by reading through my private journal which, by the way, I did in fact catch you doing."

"She what?" Simon prepared himself to start scolding. "River, you know you're not allowed in the guest rooms, and you're especially not allowed looking through their things!"

"Curious," she explained simply. "Too much talking in that room. Too much music. Where did it come from? She wanted to know."

Mason stared at River like most people stared at her- like she was bananas. He pulled Simon close and whispered in his ear "Did a hell of a job on her, didn't they?"

"Yes," Simon said tersely.

"How did she know all that stuff?"

"She… ah…" He looked to Kaylee for support. Kaylee always knew how to put things in the right light.

"She's special," Kaylee explained with a smile. "Our River's as special as they come."

"She a reader?"

"Suppose you could call it that." Kaylee's confidence wavered. "I just like to think she's extra smart. Uses more of her brain then most."

"Wow." Mason reached out and touched River's arm. She shrank back, scared. "That is the closest thing to God I have ever seen."

"_River_?" Simon asked incredulously. It had always seemed to him rather far from God. How could a God take a beautiful, pure girl and let someone destroy her like that?

"She's rare," Mason informed him, as though Simon didn't already know. "That is a gift."

"Tell us more about Lidia," Kaylee begged. "I still wanna know how her baby got into you."

Zoe came marching into the infirmary. "Captain want to see you," she informed the guest.

"Alone?" he gulped.

"Just sent me to come get you."

"Alone?" he pressed.

She rolled her eyes. "I suppose so."

"Aw, can't it wait?' Kaylee sighed. "He was gonna tell us how he got the baby."

"It'll have to wait 'till Captain's done with him." She nodded at Mason. "Let's go."

"Take it easy," Simon called.

"I'm not going off the ship just yet, doc."

"No, I mean take it easy," he reiterated, miming a bump over his own belly to indicate the one on Mason. "Stress is bad for the fetus."

"Oh, that. Yeah sure, I will."

Simon, Kaylee and River all waved Mason and Zoe goodbye. "Mal's going to tear him limb from limb," Simon commented.

"Maybe," Kaylee conceded, though she hoped Mal would be a little easy. She couldn't imagine it was easy being pregnant. "You think he'll let him stay, though?"

"Well, it'll be illegal, immoral, and all around a really bad idea. So if I know anything about the captain… yeah, he'll stay."

Captain Reynolds wasn't in the mood to chat. Mason and Zoe showed up promptly back in the kitchen. Jayne had been cleared out. Zoe motioned for Mason to sit, which he did, then disappeared back through the door. A stiff silence filled the air.

"How?" Mal began, his voice stern.

"Invasive surgery."

"When?"

"Two and a half months ago."

"Where?"

"Little place called Picadilly."

"Why?"

"It was the right thing to do, sir."

Mal regarded his pregnant passenger, who boldly stared right back. "You tell any other passengers?"

"I didn't even want to tell you."

"That don't answer the question."

"No, I didn't."

"Okay." Mal nodded, confirming what he already knew. "You picked Serenity because of Simon and River?"

"I chose Serenity because of you."

"Cuz I helped them?" Mason nodded. "Well, let me tell you something about the Tams," Mal began, grabbing the back of a chair. "I didn't want them on my ship. When I first met Simon I didn't like him much. When I found out he was putting my crew in danger, I liked him even less. When my mechanic got shot and he refused to help her unless I let him stay on board, I almost hated him. Difference between him and you is he got an invaluable service he can offer me. Every ship needs a doctor- ours just happens to come with a moon-brained girl." He started circling Mason, like a buzzard going in for scraps. "You, however… you ain't got anything we need. You got a lot of trouble, that's for sure. So what do you suppose I should do with you? What would you do if you were in my position?"

Mason squirmed in his seat. "That's hardly a fair question, captain."

"How so?"

"Because if I were you and you were me, I'd be bunking with Zoe at the moment and you'd be sobbing into a bowl of strawberry ice cream because you took too many estrogen pills."

There were two paths Mal's emotions could take for this comment- he could be angry and restrain himself as best he could from punching Mason, or he could laugh and admit to himself the guy wasn't that bad. He laughed. Mason was relieved. "This ship ain't the best place for a pregnant person to be, you know," Mal informed his passenger, as if Mason didn't already know.

"I can't honestly say I'm safe anywhere else," Mason replied.

"Tell me what happened."

"Okay. Like I said, I'm from a small nothing planet called Picadilly. I watched over a ranch run by a really rich guy named Arthur Zim. He's real old, real impatient, and he's not fit to run a ranch so long as anything's living on it. But anyway. He-"

"Hang on," Mal interrupted, holding a hand up to silence Mason. Walking very slowly, Mal crept over to the door and pulled it open. Cassidy was crouched behind it. As soon as she saw Mal, her face lost all color.

"Ah," she squeaked.

"How much did you hear?"

"I-I-I-I wasn't listening, I just… I wanted some water, I… th-thirsty."

"How much did you hear?" Mal repeated calmly.

"N-not much… almost nothing…just that someone's pregnant."

Mal cursed, quietly, then touched Cassidy's shoulder gently. "I ain't mad," he lied. "Go get your water and head back to your room, okay?" She nodded, still shaking like a frail leaf.

"Who is it?" she asked, once she's had a drink.

"Who?" He hadn't been prepared for a 'who' question. Wasn't it obvious who? No, of course it wasn't obvious who. The Alliance had tested all the women and said none of them were pregnant, and no one in their right ind would suspect a man. "Kaylee," he decided.

"Oh." Cassidy accepted this information and went back to her room, no doubt to tell Carla the news. Mal reminded himself he'd need to tell Kaylee she was pregnant ASAP.

"Thank you," Mason said once Cassidy was gone.

"Yeah, well… now I gotta think of a way to explain how the Alliance couldn't figure out she was pregnant and we could."

"Early pregnancy is hard to detect."

Mal raised an eyebrow. "You a doctor on Picadilly?"

"Not hardly," Mason scoffed. "No sir, I know just about as little as you on medical whatnot. I understand the difference between sick and not, hurt and not, and bleeding and not."

"Well," Mal reasoned, "those are the three basics, I suppose." He and Mason were skirting around the question, which was What the hell to do with Mason now? "Tell me why," Mal asked him again.

"I promised the mother I would."

"Hell of a promise, don't you think?"

"Okay, here's the short end of it- The girl, Lidia, is twelve. Her grandfather or some other older relative owns the ranch where we both worked. His name's Zim. He's dying of some other such disease you get from being old. He raped her to get her pregnant so he could have the fetus and umbilical cord to use the stem cells for a cure."

"Couldn't he just… I mean…" There were hundreds of remedies for most any disease a man could care to get. "Regardless of what he's got, there's gotta be another, safer, less incestuous way to go about treatment."

Mason shook his head. "He doesn't trust medicine. What he does trust is genetics and surgery. He always said living tissue was more reliable then some damn pill."

Mal was nonplussed. "Uh huh," he said finally. "So… Yeah, I'm just not getting it yet."

"Lidia didn't want to give her baby to him. He was probably going to rip it out of her as soon as the fetus was old enough to start growing stem cells, which is pretty damn early. She would have lost the baby just so he could live." Mason covered his mouth a moment, his memory pulling up the night he had last seen Lidia. "She came to me as soon as she was sure she was pregnant and asked me to help her. She knew she couldn't run away because he'd find her so she couldn't turn him in anywhere. Stupid man thought the Alliance would care enough to come after him. I can tell you they do not, because I informed an officer about what had happened and he didn't seem all too interested in a small nothing town on a small nothing planet. But anyway." There had been passionate anger in his voice, but it was gone now. "I had seen Zim take and take from his workers, but this was too damn much. So I found us a doctor willing to help, got myself pregnant and got out."

The kitchen was silent with tension. Mal listened to the story with an open mind and an impartial ear, but even still it sickened and baffled him. Who had formulated such a plan? "I guess I'm still fuzzy," he began.

"I'll answer what I can."

"First thing, who came up with the idea-"

"To put a baby inside a man? The doctor. Lidia had gone to him and asked what she could do about her baby, how she could keep it away from Zim. He said he'd just heard about some guy smuggling a baby across the Core to a rich family. Baby was stolen from some poor girl on the Rim who thought she was just getting a checkup. So, not having much option beside abortion, Lidia asked me to do it."

"What'd you say to that?" Mason quirked an eyebrow. "I mean," Mal corrected, "obviously you said yes, but… You can't have just thought right away 'Sounds great, let's knock me up'."

"Of course not. I got real mad at her and said no and shoved her out my door. But I thought about it more and my conscience got to me. She was pregnant, she was scared, and she only wanted what was best for a kid she couldn't provide for on her own. SO I asked her why she picked me, and I'll never forget what she said. She told me, '_Mason, you're the only one that can_'. And you know, she was right. Everyone else on that ranch was either too young, too old or was on Zim's side. She couldn't have asked anybody else, and I was a total _wang ba dan_ and kicked her out. So I said yes."

He looked at Mal and smiled faintly, all too aware of how absurd his tale was. Mal was having himself a good, long think about what he'd been hearing. It was noble enough, he supposed, though still as unnatural as anything he'd ever heard. "Okay," he finally conceded. "But I got a question."

"Just one?"

"For now. So you have this baby because Lidia didn't want her grandfather to keep it and use it, right? So I'm confused about why you didn't just take her with you."

"He's her legal guardian. It'd be kidnapping until she was old enough, and by then it'd be too late."

"Okay, makes sense. But couldn't he just… make her pregnant again?"

"No," Mason said sadly, and one could tell the reason tore him to pieces. But Mal had to ask.

"Why not?"

"Because… she can't have children anymore. The doctor who did the operation… cut out her womb and put it inside me." Mal's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Mason nodded knowingly. "She can't have children anymore."

For a while, it seemed the captain was speechless. How does one respond to that? "She just… got it cut out?"

"She knew Zim would use her baby for himself, and if it didn't work that time he would do it again and again until it did or until he died. Can you imagine being twelve years old and having one child after another, and all of them being torn from you before they even had enough life in them to breathe on their own?"

"No," Mal said honestly.

"Neither can I."

"That ain't right for a girl her age."

"She chose her own life. You make do with what you get."

That was a concept Mal could understand. He didn't know that, if put in the same situation, he could have made the choice Mason did, but he could at least understand why. "So then what happened? After the surgery, I mean."

"Well, the day before I told off Zim about how he mistreated his horses and I wasn't going to take it anymore and I was leaving. That night I got a baby stuck inside me, and Lidia agreed to act like she was still expecting until the doctors found out she didn't have a baby anymore. By then I figured I'd be far enough away. And if they did find out, the doctor who helped us was told to tell them he sold it to a woman on the black market."

"So the Alliance came looking for a woman with a stolen baby," Mal concluded, a bit impressed. It was a solid (if not disturbing) plan.

"Exactly. So, now you know the long and the short of it, Captain Reynolds."

"Suppose I do."

"So what now?"

What indeed. Mal had no idea. Zoe was right, it wouldn't be right to toss Mason out while he was in his current condition. Then again, it wouldn't be a wise idea to keep him on board, either. Especially not with the passengers on board. "I'll tell you what," he said finally. "Act as you usually do until we get to Persephone, where we were headed with the rest of the passengers anyway. We'll make as though Kaylee's the one with the baby and I'll let you know then."

"How long is that?"

"Week and half."

"That's a while to wait on something like this."

Mal shrugged. "That's my offer."

"I accept." Mason got to his feet, assuming the meeting was over. "I'll just… I'm going to bed now."

"Best idea." Mal watched Mason disappear, drank himself a shot of something awful (but alcoholic, so it was okay) and went to see Kaylee. She was still in the infirmary with Simon, River and Zoe. He popped his head in. "Kaylee?"

"Is he staying?"

"I don't know yet. Listen, I need a favor."

"Sure thing, cap'n."

"I need you to let everyone think you're pregnant."

There was a brief pause, in which every member of the crew present raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" Kaylee asked politely.

"Cassidy overheard me talking to Mason, and asked who was pregnant. I told her you were, so just go with it for the next week, okay? Just until we unload everybody."

"Okay," she said, not sounding so sure. "I can do that."

"Great. Make up a story, don't tell anyone, I don't care. Just stick to whatever you come up with and let me know." He turned to go, then came back. "Oh, and someone tell Jayne as soon as possible before he mucks up the whole thing."


	3. Chapter 3

disclaimer: All Firefly characters and affiliates are not own, I use them for entertainment only.

* * *

"Tell me all about your exciting travels," Kaylee begged, curled up on the floor of Mason's room. She knew she wasn't supposed to be down there, because Mal had said so, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Truth be told, they weren't that exciting," he chuckled.

"Sure they were! Sacrificing yourself for a young girl, running from an evil man to do what's right, hiding a dark secret, traveling all over… If you put a handsome man on the cover you'd have yourself a hit lady book."

"That won't work," Mason chided. "Firstly, I wasn't in love with Lidia, so right off the bat the great love story of a lady book is ruined. Second, it hasn't been real glorious staying out of sight from the Alliance or anything. I've spent most of my time with morning sickness, crazy emotions and pants that keep not fitting. And finally… I'm handsome enough to cover my own novel, thanks." He grinned widely, and Kaylee grinned back. "Mostly, I've just been scared. Scared I'm going to get caught by Zim, scared I'm gonna kill this baby. If I have a miscarriage, you know what would happen? I'd be carrying a ton of blood in my stomach, that's what. It's got nowhere to go. If someone knocks me over, or kicks me in the gut, or anything like that… this could all be for nothing."

Kaylee patted his arm consolingly. "It'll be okay now. I know Cap'n ain't the most compassionate person alive, but he's a good man. He won't do you wrong."

He scoffed. "You think?"

"Well sure. He let River and Simon stay, and they're worse off than you. Heck, they had the entire Alliance chasin' them, didn't they?"

"Speaking of," Mason smirked, patting the bed so Kaylee would join him on it, "what is the story behind you and the handsome Dr. Tam?"

"Simon?" she blushed. "Gosh, I don't know. I mean, we're… we sorta… I guess you could say we… that we're-"

"An item?"

She shrugged shyly. "I suppose. We been together… you know, _together, _just once now. But it was real nice. It's slow going. Now as slow as it used to be, thank God, but slow. No need to rush."

"I guess not. He's a good man, that Simon. Though he's kinda… ah…"

"Prissy?" Kaylee smiled fondly. "Most men from the Rim think so. But I like that about him, truth be said. He's a gentleman, not like most men you find out here."

Mason bit his lip in thought. "Not like Jayne, then?"

"Gosh, no! Jayne's about as _wu zou maiozi _as you can get!" She tried to imagine Jayne doing anything chivalrous and came up short. "No, nothing like Jayne. He's good crew, and I know I can trust Jayne to do what's best when the time's come, but…"

"No, I understand. He doesn't make a girl feel special, huh?"

"Not especially. That's not to say he's bad," she added hastily.

"No, I know." Mason leaned back against the wall, a flat pillow behind his head. "Man like Jayne is necessary out here, though. You'd need someone who can take care of you."

"Suppose I would if I was in your shoes," Kaylee agreed. "But I think I'll keep Simon."

"I think you should."

Kaylee reveled in the though of Simon a few seconds more. "Tell me more about your travels," she prodded. "Where'd you go after Picadilly?"

"After Picadilly," Mason mimicked, trying to remember how it went, "I stayed with a friend in the only city on the whole damn planet. He said I could crash as long as I needed, but if I stayed more than one night, Zim might come looking for me and it'd be over before it started."

"Did it hurt? The surgery?"

"Oh yes, very much so. You could not believe."

"Oh," Kaylee sighed, looking appropriately horrified.

"I felt worse for Lidia. Having to go back to the ranch and act like she was fine, like nothing was wrong. Having to get up and work like crazy the next day. I wonder how she did it."

"You haven't seen her since?"

Mason shook his head. "Safer for everyone that way."

"What are you gonna name it?"

"Name what?"

"The baby, of course!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would I name it before it's born?"

Kaylee smiled patiently. He was a boy, he probably didn't understand these things. "A baby's gotta have a name. You should be prepared for when it _is_ born, so you know who to say hello to when the time comes."

Quiet filled the small space uneasily. For a moment, Kaylee watched Mason's face go through a range of tragic emotions, and she wondered what she had said wrong. Finally, when he spoke, his voice was cracked and soft.

"What if it never gets born?"

She put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him sideways. "Then you know who to say goodbye to."


End file.
